Porcelain Heart
by Pickamandy
Summary: Every people, nation, and religion have legendary heroes who rise above all odds and overcome any and every obstacle. Who, then, do Spira's children have to look up to and adore? R


Every people, nation, and religion have legendary heroes who rise above all odds and overcome any and every obstacle. The Greeks and Romans have Hercules and Jason of Iolcus; Muslims have Mohamid; young girls everywhere have Joan of Arc. Who, then, do Spira's children have to look up to and adore?

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X or X-2. I soooooo wish I did though!

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_A small campfire, surrounded by a traveling band, dances with the harsh wind of the Calm Lands. An elderly man approaches and asks to join the party for the night. The party agrees and the man takes a seat near the flickering flames. They all look to him expectantly, for everyone knows who this figure is. A small boys finally breaks the uncomfortable silence by asking the man for a story. The older man smiles and clears his throat. Everyone stops what they are doing to lean in closer so that they might not miss a word of what the man says. For this was Maechen, a famous historian and story teller, wise in his old age. Knowing his audience was all ears, he began to tell a tale._

Spira has many legends. Some are mere foolishness; others, not so much. The most famous of storytellers can be seen all throughout Spira telling tales of valor and romance. The most commonly told is the 'Porcelain Heart'. Tis a tale of true love, hopeless tragedy, and thrilling adventures. Young Spirans dream of the glorious account of a young and wild couple trapped in a forbidden love. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Now, where to begin? Ahem! A little less than a thousand years ago, there lived a fierce young woman. She grew up among thieves and the like, learning their twisted ways.

Unshaken, she rose.

Unbidden, she stayed.

Unchallenged, she fought.

Without a moment's delay, she did not hesitate to act. She leapt at the opportunity to take her enemy down. And when she made her move, none could stop her. She would flutter around with that red scarf around her hair, mocking Yevon and Al Bhed alike. The people called her 'Lappal the Appalling' and rightly so. She stole from anyone and everyone, leaving none alive. She was invincible, or so the stories say. But what most people don't know is that she had a weakness, a very crippling one at that. She was in love.

Now she wasn't in love with just anyone. Nay, she was in love with a _maester_. How could this be, you ask? Maesters were Spira's leaders! How could a terrorist of Spira possibly fall in lots with a holy man? Well, one dark and gloomy night, she had broken into Bevelle's temple to pillage and burn, but before she could set a single curtain aflame, she saw _him_. He forced her into a duel. It soon became apparent that she had the upper hand. It wasn't long until she had him on his knees, her dagger at his throat.

Being an 'honorable' criminal, she bid him to say his last words. And you know what he said? 'Please don't get my blood all over the floor. It's a pain for the cleaning crew to have to deal with.' This man amused her. Because of this, his life was spared. She decided that she didn't _feel_ like killing him. At least, that's what she told him before clobbering him over the head with the hilt of her knife. Stealing into the night with her motley band of thieves, the maester was left on the floor with an curious look in his eyes.

The reports he had read were clearly false. She had a heart. She wasn't just some ruthless thief that tortured Spira from night to night. She had killed hundreds, including one of his friends, but she was a woman, and, like every other woman, she was capable of love. With this in mind, he set about to capture this woman. He was after her heart.

The next day, the maester made a decree. Whoever brought the outlaw known as 'Lappal the Appalling' to him, alive and well, would receive 50,000 gil as their reward. As you could imagine, people were excited. They wanted Lappal behind bars. Lappal had killed countless people in her pursuit of fortune. The people of Spira wanted revenge. And so the search began. Every spare moment was used to search for the infamous thief. But Lappal didn't want to be found. For three whole months, not a word was heard about her. The dreaded raids had abruptly stopped. The maester started to worry. Had he scared her off? Was she too afraid of being caught? He fretted over these things for weeks.

Spira's vengeful flame soon died out. No one really cared about catching her as long as she wasn't raiding their homes and temples, they were content to go on with their lives. Not so with the maester! Her face haunted his every moment. He just couldn't get her out of his head! Her mocking eyes are what bothered him the most. He kept mumbling everywhere he went with people sending him strange, worried looks. What was happening to their prestigious maester? Had he gone mad? The people of Spira were concerned for the health of their leader. Many healers made the trek to Bevelle's temple to see if they could cure the maester from his 'illness'. Nothing could stir the man from his haze. The healers could not give an explanation as to why his health was dwindling. Some labeled it as stress; others claimed that the Appalling Thief had cursed him. But no one had a sure good reason as to why he acted the way he did.

The maester himself cared naught for the ongoings around him. It made little difference to him if Spira was swallowed whole. He just didn't care. The only thing he focused his energy on was Lappal. Why had she disappeared? Did she hate him for making that decree? Had she caught wind of his plot? All these questions swirled around his head, never giving him a moment's rest. However, one night when he was walking on the terrace around the temple, which he did when trying to sort through his thoughts, something red moved in the corner of his eye. A small red flag caught on a bush? On closer inspection, it was a scarf. _Her_ scarf. He grabbed the scarf and pulled it to his face, breathing in deeply. Yes, all was just perfect.

The maester continued his walk, now with a red scarf in his hands, and found a bench to on which he could relax. He sat there all night waiting for _her_. Come dawn, he was still there, praying that she would come, but she never came. Leaving his vigil, he made his way back to the temple and to his room, his spirit broken afresh. For surely that's what this was? She was toying with him, messing with his mind, hoping that he would break. The maester was worse off than before. His condition worsened till he became bedridden. The healers had finally given up on saving him. He just didn't want to live anymore.

It was true. He had given up on life. He no longer wanted to be counted among the living. His hope was gone. He couldn't catch her. She didn't want to be caught, so she wasn't. There was nothing anyone could do to get his spirits up. He just kept falling into a deeper and deeper depressing stupor. Spira was losing their beloved maester.

One night, the maester was sick and tired of people fawning over him asking him if he needed anything, so he sent everyone out of his room. After everyone had gone, he heard a scratching at his window. There in his window stood the most beautiful creature in all of Spira. Lappal had come back to him.

She came into his room and sat on the end of his bed. There was a wicked gleam in her eyes. She wanted to know how he was doing, though clearly she knew he was dying. The maester laughed and said he couldn't be better. And so they talked. They got to understand each other a little bit more. Then dawn's first ray of light came through the bedroom window. Lappal left, but not before promising that she would be back.

And she did come back. She visited him every night for the next month or so. And there was a difference in the maester because of it. He was slowly, but surely, recovering from his illness. The healer s praised Yevon for the miracle. Little did they know it was thanks to a certain young outlaw.

Not soon after, the thief fell in love with the maester. The maester was thrilled to have won her heart. He had finally caught Lappal the Appalling, but he didn't feel like he thought he would feel. He didn't have that sense of triumph. No, he wanted her near him always. For you see, the maester had fallen in love with the thief. They arranged to have a priest join them in marriage. All this was done in secrecy, for he was a maester and she was an outlaw with a bounty on her head. But they worried over none of these things. They were happy together. Two weeks after the wedding, Lappal sent word to the maester. She was pregnant.

The maester was crushed. How would they raise their child? He knew that their secret would soon be exposed. But he thought nothing more of it, for he decided that he would deal with exposure when it came. Right then he was going to take care of his wife and lovingly help her through her pregnancy.

Nine months later, Lappal's baby was born. A fine, healthy son was brought into the world. Lappal was the happiest woman in all of Spira. Nothing could have wiped away her smile. The maester stayed with his wife and his son during the night. When dawn came, the time Lappal usually left, they simply continued in their slumber.

When the servant came to bring the maester his breakfast, he found Lappal standing beside the maester clutching a baby to her chest. She stayed because she loved him, but she was scared for her son. Nothing good could come from what they had done.

There was an uproar in the temple. An emergency meeting was held for the maesters. They were greatly distressed that Lappal and their fellow maester were married. Worse, that they had a _child_. In all of Spira's history, nothing like this had ever happened before. What were they to do? Lappal was a thief and a murderer with a bounty on her head that they themselves had made. The law clearly stated that she and her family should be put to death. But they couldn't kill a maester! Finally, they came up with a plan of sorts. They would force the maester and Lappal to divorce quietly, then execute the outlaw and her son.

As you can imagine, this did not sit well with Lappal. She would not let anyone lay a finger on her baby boy. The maesters, gentle men in their own way, pulled the maester aside and told him that he would be excommunicated if he did not divorce Lappal. The maester only wished for his family's safety. He agreed to the divorce.

When the maesters told Lappal of the divorce, she cried out. They told her that the maester cared not for the woman and child. Lappal was heartbroken. The man she loved had betrayed her. He sacrificed his wife and his son so he could remain a maester.

Lappal and her son were taken to the dungeon where Lappal was tortured for information on where her band of thieves were hiding. She said not one word, not even when they threatened to kill her son. Her cold heart was back. She was no longer a woman hopelessly in love. Nay, she was a woman scorned! She had given up so much for this man and yet he threw it all away as if it were nothing. She hated him. And she hated herself for falling in love with him.

Lappal was set to be executed within a week's time. But she had other ideas. Through a servant who pitied her, she escaped Bevelle with her son and fled into hiding. For months she planned her revenge. Finally the day came when she would execute her plan.

The maester was taking one of his walks on the terrace, thinking deeply, when she came up behind him and held a knife to his throat. The maester wept, asking what had happened to her to make her this way. For the maester had been fooled. He had truly thought that Lappal and his son were set free.

Lappal told him that she hated him and that he deserved to die, but she couldn't bring herself to kill him. She still loved him! How could she? After all that he had done to her and their son? How could she possibly still love him? But she did, oh how she still did.

She dropped the knife and asked him why. Why did he do it? Why had he hurt her that way? Reality was too harsh to live in. He told her that she was the most beautiful woman in all of Spira. He also said that she didn't deserve what he did to her, but he couldn't take it back. He hated himself for divorcing her.

Lappal's heart couldn't take any more. She still was a killer. She still had murdered helpless innocence. To her, all of his words were lies. She became enraged and picked her dagger up again. She asked him how he could stand there and lie to her face. Tears streaming from her eyes, she walked away from the only man she ever loved. She walked away. And this time, she never came back.

The maester waited months for his love to return, but to no avail. She continued with her raids, killing more people than ever before. Till one day, the notorious thief was caught. The maester was forced to sign for her execution. She was shot before his very eyes.

When the execution was finished and everyone had left, the maester went to the body of his former wife and held her tightly in his arms. The man grieved the loss of the one he loved most. His sorrow was so great that he thrust a dagger into his heart and died mourning the loss of the most beautiful Lappal.

Even though the maester and the thief were dead, their legacy did not die with them. Their son continued living among the thieves, proudly carrying on their name.

And so their story ends. Yes, tis a tragic tale. A woman loved a man who betrayed her, though he tried to save her, he ended up killing her instead.

Or so the stories say...

_As soon as he was finished, he stood and walked to the far side of the fire bidding them all a good. With that he left them with their thoughts._


End file.
